Multimillion-rand road project still not finished 12 years later

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30-07-2025
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Sowetan Live
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Claims of nonpayment by subcontractors

A contractor has told of how extortionists forced him to abandon a multimillion rand road construction project after his equipment was vandalised for refusing to badge to demands for payment.

The project in the Emfuleni local municipality in the Vaal, started in 2013 but after R52m spent on it, Mutshutshu Nxumalo, director of Oro Projects, says he abandoned it due to extortion and intimidation. The project was meant to link two streets Sebokeng Zone 7 and Evaton and would connect to a bridge over the Rietspruit .

But the construction of the 2.8km stretch of the linking road has not been completed more than a decade later leaving residents in the area frustrated with delays.

Municipal spokesperson Makhosonke Sangweni said there were two roads – Nguna and U – being constructed and Nguna was completed. 

Sangweni confirmed R52m was spent on both roads, which covers 2.8km.

Nxumalo on Tuesday told Sowetan that he was contracted to tar U Street but said he left the site in 2017 because he feared for his life. He said his construction equipment was set alight and some of it stolen.

“I don't even want to get back into that trauma. I was terribly traumatised. I had to open a case and I don't even want to go back there and get involved with the mess of that place. They [construction mafia] tried to extort me. I had had enough and lost a lot [of money] and equipment,” he said.

Nxumalo said he was approached by three groups who claimed to be from the local business forums, demanding he use their equipment and materials at inflated prices. “They started as [ business] forums, but there were also ring leaders. I wouldn’t know who they are. There were a lot of threats and I had to walk away from it [the project],” he said.

“We had done a lot of work and were almost even completing it, but they [extortionists] messed up our equipment and terrorised everybody who was there. They'd force you to get materials from their person at inflated prices and it ends up not being a viable project. That is what was killing the project. They force you to use their equipment. That’s why they burned and vandalised it.”

Sangweni confirmed that Nxumalo abandoned the site after completing layer works and stormwater systems due to constant harassment from local business forums demanding payment for work not done.

“This led to the contractor’s equipment being set on fire by local SMMEs and, as a result, the contractor felt it would be impossible to complete the project and abandoned the site,” he said.

"Unfortunately, since the municipality could not appoint another contractor immediately after the site was abandoned, the layer works deteriorated to the level of requiring rework on the top layers, which needs additional funds to complete, including surfacing the project."

- Municipal spokesperson Makhosonke Sangweni

He said the municipality needed R7m to complete the road.

In a 2022 response from the legislature, the then MEC for human settlement, urban planning and co-operative governance, Lebogang Maile, said four companies were hired to work on the entire project.

However, Sangweni said two companies were hired.

When the Sowetan team visited the area on Monday, concrete blocks laid more than 10 years ago, after the initial levelling, were the only signs of a road project that was abandoned in 2017. The ground has since begun swallowing the remaining concrete, originally meant to be the foundation for a tarred road.

Before construction, motorists used an old bridge, which was demolished to make way for a new one. That bridge was never built. Only a few concrete slabs remain where the new structure was supposed to be. Part of the road is now flooded after the municipality redirected rainwater flow into that section.

Tokologo Dikano from Bokano Construction said he was a subcontractor and knew nothing about extortion allegations. "We stopped working because we were not getting paid. We have one or two invoices that the contractor did not pay. We left materials there and we could not go back to site to go back collect it because the community wouldn't let us."

Edward Matobane from Konyi Construction also claimed that he was not paid on time by the contractor. " I was using my money even to the extent of borrowing money so that I can do the job but when it came time for us to get paid, there was always a problem," he said.

Nxumalo denied that he owed them money and said he doesn't know them.

Residents said crime had increased in the area and criminals hide in the bushes. “Thieves used to steal from the last contractor [Nxumalo] who was here. They would strip parts from his machine to sell batteries. I don't think the project will be finished because it's been so many years, and we're not seeing any movement,” said Sam Tsotetsi, 67.

Emfuleni councillor Ayanda Ngubane of the DA said they will be writing to Gauteng finance MEC Maile to ask when the project will be completed, and why the 2020 deadline to finish it was not met. – Additional reporting by Thulani Mbele